For our 19 January Zoom meeting, Trista Fugate (formerly Director of Community & Government Affairs at Platte River Power Authority or PRPA) gave us a fact-filled summary of the history and near- to medium-term plans for Platte River, the Fort-Collins located, not-for-profit public power utility that generates and transmits electric power for the communities of Fort Collins, Estes Park, Loveland, and Longmont. As she pointed out several times, Platte River is owned by (and the board includes the mayors and utility directors of) the cities to which it provides electric power. (Fort Collins is unique in that Councilmember Julie Pignataro joins Mayor Jeni Arndt on the Platte River Board.) Platte River’s mission is to safely provide reliable, environmentally responsible, and financially sustainable energy to its owner communities including their +165,000 retail customers.
For our first Rotary Club of Fort Collins DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Fellowship, Dr. Cori Wong will present Transforming Systems with Our Vision, Values, and Choices to Change, February 2, immediately following our regular noon meeting, via Zoom. All are welcome. Please use the same link as the noon meeting.
The January, 2022 Teacher of the Month is Bethke Elementary School teacher Kambri Luna. After teaching 5th grade and 2nd grade students, Bri earned a masters degree in reading. Now she is an accomplished literacy interventionist and instructional coach who works with struggling students and also supports the reading and literacy efforts of other teachers.
Last week, Lee-Varra-Nelson, District Governor Elect of Rotary District 5440, spoke to us at the Lincoln Center. Her conversational presentation focused on membership, the accomplishments of our Club and advice to our Club going forward. She praised the club for its multigenerational membership (with a shout out to Johnny M), recognized members with 40 years or more and acknowledged new or soon-to-be new members.
For our first (Zoom) meeting of 2022, club member Dr. Allan Kirkpatrick (Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering at CSU) summarized for us the advantages and disadvantages of the various power sources for personal transportation for the future. He started by acknowledging that we all need mobility which implies the need for engines – engines that can be powered by gasoline, electricity, or fuel cells or some hybrid combination.
The Barron Clinic is in rural Sinaloa Mexico outside of Mazatlán, Mexico. The Mazatlán Rotary club and the Rotary Club of Fort Collins, CO, USA are partnering to fund some basic medical equipment for this clinic. The Barron Clinic NGO has been working for over 5 years and has achieved substantial success in serving the underprivileged in this rural area.
Here is the list of equipment provided. All equipment is purchase new in Mazatlán:
